Buy Canadian First - Your destination for good shopping

Last summer, I had a nice patio table and chair set out on the deck, however I was always longing for more of a lounge kind of sit.

Ramping it up a notch, a vision of something rustically unique came to mind. And so the pallet outdoor sofa was born.

The frame was built to accommodate a mattress found at the thrift store. From there, reclaimed cedar planks were used for the seat and random pallet boards for the back. To pretty things up, the mattress was covered in a painter’s drop cloth and random thrift store pillows offered all the comfort necessary.

Not only am I totally enjoying my new lounging area outdoors, this project also won a Canada-wide Upcycle 2011 challenge! How cool and unexpected was that?

Have you created any of your own outdoor furniture? What did you use or make?

Photos and design are courtesy of Funky Junk Interiors. Full tutorial HERE.

It wasn’t that long ago that I was shopping for a headboard. I wasn’t finding anything to die for so I just hung in there... until an old horse gate from a burn pile was discovered. YES!

The size proved to be perfect for my king-sized bed. The added sawhorse at the foot of the bed completed the rustic look.

Adding hooks to the gate offers loads of fun opportunities for ever-changing decor. Today, it's decked out for Summer. What will I do for Fall... or Christmas? Fun!

Installing the gate to the wall was as simple as screwing it into studs. The "messy bed" look was created by throwing loose linens on top of a quilt. The sleepy cat on the bed fully approves! Other unique headboard ideas could be old doors, fireplace mantels or large vintage signs. If an object is the size of the bed, it can be a headboard!

Do you have a unique headboard?

Photos and design courtesy of Funky Junk Interiors. Full tutorial can be found here.

Well, my fellow Canadian junkers, are you ready for something on a wall that is a little "off the wall"? Pardon the pun but you’ll soon see what I mean.

Collectors ‘accumulate’ lots of stuff over a short period of time and when you run out of horizontal real estate, you have to go up. My stash was taking over my storage area when I came up with a wild brainstorm. Hang it up!

 

 But I took it a step further and hung it all up in my front entry. Adding a few hooks here and there, I ended up with a junk art coat hook wall.

Everything was placed tight against each other like a puzzle, then screwed into the wall. I was prepared to place anchors where necessary, but everything ended being perfectly sound. 

I haven’t decided if it’s storage until something better comes along or it’s staying. I rather love it just the way it is! Guess I’d better go shopping for more junk then, huh? :)

Do you have anything unique hanging up your coats by the front door?

Photos and design courtesy of Funky Junk Interiors. Complete tutorial and reveal can be found on the blog HERE. 

I adore collecting good ol' Canadian vintage toolboxes. They're just so versatile, making fabulous centerpieces for tables and providing great storage with flair for most anything. However, collecting the antique varieties can be pricey, or the wrong size for what you desire. So what’s one to do? Easy... make one yourself! Trust me when I say that I’m not a pro-builder, so I came up with a cheat sheet method to create a complete toolbox out of one board. Yup, it was that easy!

Here’s how I did it:

1. Find a unique handle of choice.

It can be anything from a branch, an old tool, to a standard dowel. The handle will help dictate how large your toolbox will be.

2. Cut a board down to accommodate  two sides, one bottom and a front / back.

Use two different boards if you desire a two-toned look or different dimensions.

3. Pre-drill holes for the handle, then insert. Screw the rest of the toolbox together and you’re done!

Don’t be afraid to get really creative with that handle. This drill-handled toolbox was a little more complicated to create as the sides required additional shaping with a jig saw, but it was worth the extra effort. The sky's truly the limit where design is concerned.

Are you also a collector of toolboxes? What do you use them for?

Special thanks to fellow Canadian Julie from Follow Your Heart Woodworking for leading a toolbox workshop on my blog HERE!

Photos and design are courtesy of Funky Junk Interiors.

White picket toolbox tutorial is HERE.
Drill handled toolbox tutorial is HERE.

We're off to Toronto for another visit with Canada AM! Although I visit with them every morning through the magic of television (and now Twitter!), it’s always so awesome to be right there on-set!

In honour of Mother Earth, we are featuring some great Canadian-made products which are good for the environment. That’s a double-bonus in my books!

You can watch the segment here, and here’s a recap of what we were showing today:

Canned tuna & salmon from Raincoast Trading in B.C. A fourth-generation family-owned fishing business dedicated to sustainability in all they do: from fishing to processing and packaging. Truly outstanding products and company.

Environmentally-responsible gardening products from Green Earth (Premier Tech) in Ontario. Safe to use, they are formulated with ingredients derived from botanical, mineral and animal source. So now you can have a beautiful and healthy garden!

Natural laundry care & house hold cleaners from NatureClean in Ontario. A third-generation family business dedicated to healthier living every day. Sporting a new look this Spring, their products are good for people and for the planet!

Natural body care is what The Great Canadian Soap Company from PEI is all about. This unique company is farm-based and raises its own goats to supply the pure and natural goats milk which goes in many of their products. They welcome visitors, and that's a place I can't wait to go! Watch this video and you"ll understand why!  

And last but definitely not least: children’s playhouse and car made of recycled material from Cascades Boutique in Quebec. These adorable items are part of a larger line of fun cardboard playthings for kids but also for pets! And of course, they are fully recyclable!

Oh, and in case you’re curious, I’m wearing Lundstrom made in Toronto!

Thanks again to the entire Canada AM team, as well as to fellow-Montreal Todd Van Der Heyden! 

P.S. If you have not yet entered our Earth Day giveaway, hurry! Entries are accepted until Friday April 20th at 5:00 PM ET. Up for grabs is a gift pack full of Canadian-made eco-friendly products with a total value of over $550! The contest is here.

Good luck!

Images courtesy of CTV and Buy Canadian First members

Each year, in Canada and around the world, April 22nd is dedicated to honouring our planet and focussing on ways we can lessen our environmental impact.

I’ve never considered myself a tree-hugger, in any sense of the word. But we do recycle (at home and at the office) and use our city’s composting program. We also have a small (organic) vegetable patch in the backyard where we grow mainly tomatoes and fresh basil (yum!). But as I was preparing to write this post, I’ve been thinking that maybe I am kinder to Mother Earth that I originally thought...How, you ask? By buying Canadian!

1)    Every time I purchase a product made in Canada, I do my part to lower my carbon footprint. 9 times out of 10, a product made here will travel a much shorter distance to reach me than one made overseas. Less pollution is created by using less fossil fuel to bring the product to market.

2)    I know that Canadian manufacturing facilities are highly regulated in terms of allowable emissions and waste management. Not so in many other countries.

3)    A product made in Canada will not contain harmful components such as BPA, lead, melamine, etc. It keeps me, my family and my environment safe!

So buying Canadian is good for the environment! That calls for a celebration, no? Absolutely! Join us in celebrating Earth Day and you could win an awesome prize pack chock-full of healthy & eco-friendly products made in Canada! Included are:

1)    Natural memory foam Comfort Pillow made in Quebec, from Essentia. (value: $129)

2)    Organic wild rice products from Manitoba (rice, rice flour, rice flour linguine), from Naosap Harvest (value: $ 24.50)

 

3)    Natural liquid laundry detergent, shampoo & conditioner made in Ontario, from NatureClean (value: $30)

4)    Arm-bag made from recycled store banners in Quebec, from Eco-Handbags (value: $45.99)

5)    Eco-friendly "Green Earth" garden products made in Ontario, from Premier Tech (value: $80)

6)    Natural lip balms made in Ontario, from Fitlips (value:$24)

7)    Vouchers for organic non-dairy SoNice products made in B.C., from Earth’s Own (value: $30)

8)    Natural health products to reduce joint pain made in Ontario, from St.Francis Herb Farm (value: $60)

9)    Biodegradable garden waste bags made in Quebec, from Cascades (value: $16.50)

10)    Natural skin care products made in P.E.I., from The Great Canadian Soap Company (value: $30)

11)    Sustainable canned fish products processed in B.C., from Raincoast Trading (value:

12)    Natural mascara and lipstick made in Manitoba, from Pure Anada (value: $26)

13)    Gardener’s Dream Lotion made in B.C., from Aroma Crystal (value: $39.99)

14)    Majesta paper products made in N.B., from Majesta (value: $20.00)

15) Reusable produce bags made in Quebec, from Credo Bags (value: $25)

Total value: over $ 550.00 !!!

To enter the giveaway, do as many of the 3 following things as possible, as they each count for one entry. The more the merrier (and luckier)!

•    Leave us a comment below telling us what you do to help protect Mother Earth (Comments are moderated, so don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away!);

•    Follow us on Twitter and mention the following: @BuyCndianFirst loves @EarthDayCanada #madeincanada;

•    Like us on Facebook.

The giveaway ends on Friday, April 20th at 5:00 PM ET. We will pick one name at random from all entries and the winner will be announced on Sunday, April 22nd.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. CONGRATS TO OUR WINNER: ANNE, FROM VICTORIA, B.C.

Good luck!

Images courtesy of BuyCanadian First members

Do you dread rehanging up your clothes in a closet as much as I do? If so, do I ever have a treat for you today! One of my all time passions is working with Canadian-found pallet wood for two reasons. It’s price efficient (aka free!) AND... it’s oh so rustically beautiful. :)



  

Being that I’m not ‘fond’ of hanging up my clothes (that IS what the bed and floor are for, no?), I desired a wardrobe wall made out of pallet wood. Not only is it a cool feature wall, it’s been truly the answer to my... clothing covered floor. Here’s how I did it!

1. Find your reclaimed lumber of choice.

Old fence boards or  pallets or even new ones, if you so desire! Random boards will do for this design.

2. Sand the wood well, then screw it onto your wall.

Screwing into studs didn't prove to be necessary; it held well. I went for an old style slat and plaster look, so I prepainted the wall white, then purposely left gaps between the slats. Not many boards required cutting when staggered vertically.

3. Screw in a mish mash of things that hook.

For a playful take, don’t overlook random finds such as an upside down hanger. Can you tell I’m not a very serious decorator? :)

 Have fun with it!

4. Go to town and fill up that wall!

This has proven to be a most useful feature in my own bedroom, however it would also totally rock in a kid’s room or even bathroom. How about a front entry? Once you have your own wardrobe wall, you’ll WANT to hang up your clothes just for the fun of it. :)



So... what do you think? Crazy, cool or both? What changes do you think would happen with a wardrobe wall in your own home?

Please use reclaimed lumber at your own risk. Tips on using it safely can be found in my own article HERE.

Photos are courtesy of Funky Junk Interiors and the full tutorial can be found HERE.

I am the proud owner of two small, itty-bitty, made-in-Canada businesses. Being little is huge! Allow me to explain. I’m Donna, an artsy, single parent of an awesome twelve year old son, residing in Very Small Town, BC. 

One of my businesses is a sign and graphics shop, called Graphic Impact, where I specialize in designing and manufacturing vehicle graphics. Design and decal fabrication are done at home, then I run out and install at my customer’s location while my son is in school. My passionate side fired-up Funky Junk Interiors, a decorating studio where I flip junky relics into unique decorating elements for the home. Thrifted treasures are found and revamped, then my home is used for staging photo shoots. From there, I submit the write-ups to magazines and blogs for features. I'm also a freelance writer and photographer and am so very glad that Buy Canadian First is part of my lineup! FUN!

But what really makes this story profound is the fact that businesses choose to buy Canadian first, by choosing me, this little Canadian small town girl, over much larger international corporations. They don’t have to choose me. There are plenty of others they could use to either make their trucks look pretty or their magazine spreads or blogs shine. But the fact that they did choose me says something about them. They are supporters of ensuring that my son gets a new pair of shoes every so often and that there's fuel in our vehicle. They know where their money is being spent which also means that they care about us.

In return, I attempt to offer something extra-special so that they call again. How about the very best work I can muster, topped with a sprinkling of true blue passion? When you care about what you do, you tend to conduct business a little differently, wouldn’t you agree? I see it when I visit my hairdresser in her beautifully decorated, cozy basement, for that invaluable one-on-one service or at the unique diner down the road that dishes up homemade fare like no one else. The small town folks, and what they offer, are special, and that's what keeps me coming back to buying Canadian first. I love knowing where my hard-earned Canadian dollars are going and I’m just very glad that my customers appear to feel the same way about me!

What keeps you going back to your favourite, small businesses?

Written by, and images courtesy of, Donna at Funky Junk Interiors.

Sheds are mighty handy outdoors. But, rather than just stop at necessity, why not create an amazingly fun focal point for your Canadian-made backyard at the same time?

This is my little wood shed out back. It’s very funky and junky and is a fair representation of everything I love. It currently provides a new function these days: holding firewood. It used to be a greenhouse. Starting with the beat-up greenhouse framework, the plastic was removed and reclaimed fence boards and old barn windows were simply screwed in place, adding tons of unique character

. 

A found firetruck parts crate was painted out and annuals were added for an easy-to-keep-up flower box.

Old signs and tools were hung for both decoration and to stake up plants and flowers. Pallets were added for mini walkways and a front step. They simply flip upwards to mow the lawn. This little shed truly brings new meaning to a place meant just for storage. Decide on the look that you desire, then start collecting and hanging your favorite things to create your own desired look! 

Do you have a creative storage shed in your yard?

Photos and design are courtesy of Funky Junk Interiors. The full four part series of this build can be seen HERE.